The above both have excellent libraries, wish we had more money and more time! We take advantage of the free library systems in 2 states, as we are on a border. We've always looked up videos/DVDs for free library rental and the Eyewitness and Schlessinger seriescome to mind. When I see them at yard sales I snatch them up!

Wow, what a huge list! Great list! Did you know Netflix just came to Canada? Now to try and figure out what I'm supposed to do with this disk to go inside of our Wii machine.??

Second Hand Lions - I would love to fish their way! Favorite here! :)

You have my cogs rolling, will see about compiling a list to add soon. I can add the epics for history purposes; Cleopatra, The fall of the Roman Empire, El Cid, Ben Hur, and so many others that are well loved family classics over here.

Alison,If you had a 3 year old son like me, what would you have him watch? Especially in terms of Christian education. Anything? Nothing? (Note, he's a TV addict - bad mommy - but you already know that.)

Char, in thinking of my youngest, who was 3 three years ago, I think she watched and liked the Signing Times dvds with sign language. http://www.signingtime.com/. She LUVed the HOLY BABY series. http://www.therosaryproject.com/Holy_Baby_DVD_s_C2.cfm and I introduced her to alphabet and number dvds, the ones by Preschool Prep linked above. But they were something I resorted to when I needed to remove her from the classroom as she has 3 older siblings. If I got an hour or so out of that I moved on to Playdo. Man, they ALL luv playdo and I kept her in the kitchen with it. We even made playdo together and colored separate batches with food dye and, for great smell, different KoolAid powder packs. Purple smelled grape and yellow smelled lemony...etc...Playdo was luved so much it became a bargaining chip...stay in your bed all night and you can play Playdo in the morning.

You know those books where it rings a bell when it's time to turn a page? She luved them too. They seem to luv anything that empowers them.

She would also luv to paint. I buy huge art poster size paper so it takes longer to paint.:) She also liked stamping little stamps, Lite Brite and building with Legos, ALL great for small motor skills.

At some point she always came back into the schoolroom, but she wanted to play school and so she would sit and pretend to write. Leapfrog makes those great alphabet letter magnet games and we also had tracing letters and wipeboards for her to write letters on if she wanted to. Even sorting was fun for her. I'd give her an empty egg carton and with tongs have her place and sort small colored blocks into the separations....or coins...or dried beans.

I remember when my oldest son was little that he used to, like my daughter, like to wash dishes! So I had a set of plastic cups and plates that he could use, added some funnels, a pitcher and that would keep him busy a while, pouring back and forth.

My boys luved all the videos on jobs. Videos about firemen were huge hits, how to build roads, construction, there was one where a building exploded that they luved. They liked to watch men working and then go out and imitate it, especially contruction. We made perhaps a 4 ft diameter circle of gravel in a corner of the backyard and put shovels and huge tonka trucks out there and it became a work station. Give him a spot to dig and a hard hat. :)

Yeah, a lot of it requires clean up...get him involved.

If he is interested in any show that has action figures, get them! I'd go to ebay and get lots of Winnie the Pooh characters and Thomas the Tank and all but one of my 4 luved to be quiet and reinact scenes in their imagination. I'd really encourage that, that imagining and building things. Legos, duplo, blocks, Lincoln Logs...We have a set of foam blocks that they use in a myriad of ways still today. http://www.amazon.com/Giant-Foam-Block-Set-pcs/dp/B00000ITKM

At the libraries we had this video series called Preschool Power and it taught skills to little people, like how to put on your own coat and montessori type stuff. Try to rent them and google montessori ideas, they are so creative and have educational value and often can be done with things around the house...cotton balls...salad tongs...

Get him outside too, my guys always needed to wrestle and exhaust themselves to sleep well. When the leaves are turning like they are now I remember many big wheel rides around the neighborhood.(Wish they made one my size.) They still need a sweat a day or they're ornery! Nothing like hard work too that they'll feel proud of, moving things, pulling weeds, busy labor. Get him a little broom and dustpan for sweeping the kitchen...especially after playdo! :)

Write down a bunch of ideas for yourself to go to. A good day for me always meant that they cycled through a few of these and had quiet time too.

You're probably already doing a lot of these, you just got me thinking of those days and the memories spilled...maybe a blog post is coming on...

Char, in thinking of my youngest, who was 3 three years ago, I think she watched and liked the Signing Times dvds with sign language. http://www.signingtime.com/. She LUVed the HOLY BABY series. http://www.therosaryproject.com/Holy_Baby_DVD_s_C2.cfm and I introduced her to alphabet and number dvds, the ones by Preschool Prep linked above. But they were something I resorted to when I needed to remove her from the classroom as she has 3 older siblings. If I got an hour or so out of that I moved on to Playdo. Man, they ALL luv playdo and I kept her in the kitchen with it. We even made playdo together and colored separate batches with food dye and, for great smell, different KoolAid powder packs. Purple smelled grape and yellow smelled lemony...etc...Playdo was luved so much it became a bargaining chip...stay in your bed all night and you can play Playdo in the morning.

You know those books where it rings a bell when it's time to turn a page? She luved them too. They seem to luv anything that empowers them.

She would also luv to paint. I buy huge art poster size paper so it takes longer to paint.:) She also liked stamping little stamps, Lite Brite and building with Legos, ALL great for small motor skills.

At some point she always came back into the schoolroom, but she wanted to play school and so she would sit and pretend to write. Leapfrog makes those great alphabet letter magnet games and we also had tracing letters and wipeboards for her to write letters on if she wanted to. Even sorting was fun for her. I'd give her an empty egg carton and with tongs have her place and sort small colored blocks into the separations....or coins...or dried beans.

I remember when my oldest son was little that he used to, like my daughter, like to wash dishes! So I had a set of plastic cups and plates that he could use, added some funnels, a pitcher and that would keep him busy a while, pouring back and forth.

My boys luved all the videos on jobs. Videos about firemen were huge hits, how to build roads, construction, there was one where a building exploded that they luved. They liked to watch men working and then go out and imitate it, especially contruction. We made perhaps a 4 ft diameter circle of gravel in a corner of the backyard and put shovels and huge tonka trucks out there and it became a work station. Give him a spot to dig and a hard hat. :)

Yeah, a lot of it requires clean up...get him involved.

If he is interested in any show that has action figures, get them! I'd go to ebay and get lots of Winnie the Pooh characters and Thomas the Tank and all but one of my 4 luved to be quiet and reinact scenes in their imagination. I'd really encourage that, that imagining and building things. Legos, duplo, blocks, Lincoln Logs...We have a set of foam blocks that they use in a myriad of ways still today. http://www.amazon.com/Giant-Foam-Block-Set-pcs/dp/B00000ITKM

At the libraries we had this video series called Preschool Power and it taught skills to little people, like how to put on your own coat and montessori type stuff. Try to rent them and google montessori ideas, they are so creative and have educational value and often can be done with things around the house...cotton balls...salad tongs...

Get him outside too, my guys always needed to wrestle and exhaust themselves to sleep well. When the leaves are turning like they are now I remember many big wheel rides around the neighborhood.(Wish they made one my size.) They still need a sweat a day or they're ornery! Nothing like hard work too that they'll feel proud of, moving things, pulling weeds, busy labor. Get him a little broom and dustpan for sweeping the kitchen...especially after playdo! :)

Write down a bunch of ideas for yourself to go to. A good day for me always meant that they cycled through a few of these and had quiet time too.

You're probably already doing a lot of these, you just got me thinking of those days and the memories spilled...maybe a blog post is coming on...

AMDG ~ 10th Year of Blogging!

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Allison

Email at CatholicHomeED{at}Yahoo{dot}com

About Me

WELCOME TO THIS PHOTO - JOURNAL celebrating the traditional, Roman Catholic faith ... in words and images. I believe that Catholicism & The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass are the GOOD, the TRUE and the BEAUTIFUL in this life. With my camera and my words, what better f o c u s could I share on this blog?The first post appeared in May of 2007, when I started homeschooling my 4. In 2011, this blog was the reason we traveled to Rome, to participate in the VATICAN BLOGGERS MEETING, where my goal to promote Catholic social media began. Today, 2 of my homeschoolers have graduated and study at/graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville. It is so encouraging to have this online community, to know you are out there and to share what we learn with each other. May we do so, AMDG, for the glory of God and all for Jesus, Mary & Joseph. Totus Tuus! +JMJ+